Hands-On, Laptop

MSI GF75 Thin with GTX 1650 & 9th Gen Core i7 Now in Malaysia for RM5,199

It was only last week when Nvidia officially unveiled the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti and 1650 mobile GPUs. Now, you can already get MSI laptops with the brand new GPUs in Malaysia, and one such product is the new MSI GF75 Thin.

Equipped with a GTX 1650 GPU and 9th generation Intel Core i7-9750H processor, the GF75 is a relatively capable gaming laptop. However, retailing at RM5,199, it doesn’t exactly offer a lot of value for money. Nonetheless, I got to spend some time with the GF75 laptop, and it’s…an “okay” gaming machine.

As its name suggests, the GF75 Thin is a slim and light gaming laptop, especially for a 17.3-inch gaming laptop. It weighs 2.2kg, and it measures only 23.1mm at its thickest point. Compared to other laptops with a similar display size, these measurements are quite impressive.

Even though its slim chassis and lightweight nature are great, the GF75’s build quality is a different story. Like most MSI laptops, the bottom chassis of the GF75 is made out of plastic. This makes it feel like a cheap laptop, which it isn’t at all.

Thankfully, the palm rest area and lid of the GF75 are metal; the former is especially important to ensure a comfortable gaming experience. Aside from that, I dig the overall minimalist design of the laptop. It doesn’t have the aggressive styling of conventional gaming laptops.

While we’re on the topic of design, the slim bezels of the GF75’s 17.3-inch display also give it a sleek aesthetic. Although there’s still a chin at the bottom of the display, it’s not as thick as other competing laptops. Plus, the minimal bezels also reduce the overall footprint of the gaming laptop.

As for the display itself, it’s quite good. The GF75 features a 17.3-inch 1080p IPS display, and it can get bright enough for comfortable use outdoor. Colours and viewing angles are also great on this panel, and I imagine it will be enjoyable to game on this screen.

Unfortunately, the display is only a conventional 60Hz panel. In a market where more and more gaming laptops feature high refresh rate screens, the GF75 doesn’t look particularly great in comparison.

In terms of gaming performance, you can expect to game relatively well on this laptop, thanks to the GTX 1650 GPU and Intel Core i7-9750H processor. I haven’t had the chance to game on the GF75 yet, but considering the fact that the new GTX 1650 is faster than its direct predecessor (the GTX 1050 Ti), it should be powerful enough to run most games well at medium to high graphics settings.

According to Nvidia, the GTX 1650 can deliver over 60fps in popular battle royale games like Apex Legends, Fortnite, and even PUBG with high graphics settings at 1080p. I’ll definitely put this to the test in a full review of this gaming laptop.

When it comes to connectivity, the GF75 is reasonably well-equipped. It features three USB Type-A ports, an HDMI output, a USB-C connection, and an RJ45 port.

Next, we have the GF75’s keyboard, which comes with red backlighting only; no RGB lighting here. Regardless, the keyboard as a whole is quite good. The key travel is just long enough for a pleasant typing experience, and the keys are plenty tactile too.

Surprisingly enough, the trackpad is also very decent. Most gaming laptops have pretty bad trackpads, so the accuracy of the GF75’s trackpad caught me off guard. That being said, the trackpad on the unit I tested felt “loose,” especially on the bottom portion of the trackpad.

I’m not entirely sure if this is only an issue with the unit I tested, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless.

The MSI GF75 Thin is only available in one variant in Malaysia, which is priced at RM5,199. For that kind of money, you’re getting 8GB of RAM, as well as 512GB of SSD storage – that’s not a lot of RAM capacity. Plus, at this price point, you can easily get more powerful gaming laptops too.

But the GF75 is not meant for gamers who want the best value for their money. Rather, it’s targeted at those that are looking for a thin and light 17.3-inch gaming laptop. If this is what you’re looking for, the GF75 is a good option.

Not a particularly fantastic option, but definitely worth a consideration.

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